Hand-me-downs (passing outgrown clothing to the next youngest sibling) have gotten a bad reputation over the years as undesirable and second-rate (not necessarily accurate) but in the garden they can be a boon to smaller plants. Yesterday’s repotting of the Areca Palm freed up the ceramic pot it was sitting in (as a jardinière) for my little Chinese Evergreen. The plant is an offspring of my friend G’s mature one; I had never seen one this small.
The small terra cotta pot I in which, I originally planted it tended to dry out too quickly. The non-porous ceramic pot will hold moisture better but it has to have a layer of gravel or broken pottery in the bottom for drainage. One of my garden books says it grows well even in water alone—with a little charcoal*.
Since Chinese Evergreens do well in low light, this one was a natural for my studio. Everywhere else the sun has returned in abundance.
*Crockett's Indoor Garden;(Little,Brown & Company)26
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